We really don't need an extra winger though. And Man City definitely do sign more players than they need. There's a good link there.
btw I dont agree with Beefy, we dont really need a winger at this stage, I would rather see where we are at the end of the season instead of getting a average championship winger now
I'm glad to read some of you are contemplating next season, should Saints win promotion, because it's something I haven't wanted to consider yet. It's one thing going from League One to the Championship, and keeping the majority of your squad, but another to do the same with the step up to the Premier League. Five players maximum..? I take it, that is to ride out the first season, and end mid-table..? Cortese wants Champions League, so that means some famous or, to-be-famous, players are going to be pulling on the red & white shirts of Southampton FC. Do you dare look that far ahead..?
Maybe not for the prem no.. But adequate to get promotion with the existing players we have so signing a striker In January will be fine. If we get promoted them we will need to buy 4/5 players to keep us in the prem
I disagree with that. The current squad is good enough to stay in the prem, but probably not good enough to get a top half finish. As for after that first season of consolidation. I think we have an academy and from what I hear there are some pretty handy players coming through in there. I may well be wrong however and our academy will just be used to create future Bournemouth and Plymouth players?
Our midfield has been overrun in the last 2 games, probably last game because spiddy was played out of position on the right
It's probably worth taking into account that a lot of our best players are quite young and will get better every year. And how long until Stephens, Ward-Prowse, Shaw and Sinclair get some first team action? This season perhaps?
Bart has been with us for a long time and has proved to be very loyal. A goalkeeper gets better with age and games. In the past Bart has proved to be capable. Trouble is he is not getting a chance to prove how capable. That as they say in a way is our good fortune as it means that Davis is on song. Referring to some other posts in regards to the squad as a whole. We do still have some "dead wood" in the squad. The likes of Puncheon perhaps, Forcast maybe Dickson and the like. We will need to thin these out as non are likely to push hard enough for a first team chance. Having said that we do have quite a few good young players that will do a job for us should we arrive in the premier. They are young so should improve as time and games go on. Sadly while I think some of the older players will be ok they will not be a sustaining force for survival for long. So as posters have Said we will need quite a few new experienced players to make any big moves forward. Meaning we have a core of players that should be good premiership players, a few up and comings and a few that are at best holding players until they can be replaced. Sad but true as the likes of Norwich, Swansea and QPR are finding out. I guess this is just the reality of the situation.
We will obviously need a few new players to do well in the PL, but remember it is playing as a team that has got us into the position to even be able to think about it. Nigel's strength is in team building. Any players brought in must not change the ethos of the present side. The PL is a big step up, but remember that not all teams in the PL are great teams. If Saints play as a team and with the confidence of a good season behind them, they will be better than some PL sides.
What you say is true Fran......but in truth Saints have to compete with all. They have to do better than be "better than some". To survive they have to be competitive and able to get a result from any team. Other wise we will suffer the ignominy of what happened in our last season in the Premier everyone that came here felt they could get a result and did in most cases. Teams were not wary of us which is what we need. To a degree Swansea and Norwich are suffering that at the moment and so is QPR to a degree. It is a natural phenomenon unfortunately one which will require the need to bring in the Premier experienced players to combat in my view.
I agree Beddy, but must be done carefully. I can see us getting some quick points on board and then our credentials will be tested. Mind you we thought that this year and I still think there are a few fans waiting for us to be found wanting!
Agreed, There was disdain and much criticism of Nigel/Nicola at the start of the season/window closing for not buying a new team! Saints supporters freely stating that the team was not good enough for the Championship and we needed better players to stay in the division. Now what we hear (from some Saints fans but almost all opposing fans) is that Nigel has got them playing above their ability. My answer there is that is impossible. No-one can ever play above their ability. You can not do something if you are unable to do it and therefore if you can do it you are able to do it. So Nigel is just getting 90% from players that other managers have gotten 70% from and therefore they are still playing within their ability. So those who doubted the team was good enough for the Championship have ben silenced as they are more than good enough for the Championship. Some of them still chirp on about January but why? we could do with some back up but no decent player is going to come to Saints in the Championship to be an understudy!!! So if we jump into the market in January we will end up signing backup players that could well be of no use within 6 months should we get promoted!!! Like the Lambert thread I think people (Saints and opposing alike) need to get out of their heads that X player or Y player is crucial. This is a team, it is doing so well because they are a team and not 11 superstars. If Lambert is out then someone else will do the job. People may not have noticed that Lambert has actually missed quite a few chances this season. So get behind the team, stop proclaiming what level a player is at. We do not know that this squad is not good enough for the Prem just as we didn't know that this squad was good enough for the Championship however many were quick to decide that they weren't. I pretty much think put this squad into this year's Prem and we would be mid table, a fair way off top but not too far from 8th/9th. However I am sure there are many that still maintain that half the squad is over achieving (which is literally impossible to do) and that half the first team and all of the reserves will have to be cast aside if we go up. Take it as it is. They aren't over achieving as that is impossible. They are achieving more than we expected though. Who is to say that we will be starry eyed at the team achieiving more than expected next season if we go up? So I pretty much maintain that we have first choice players in every position, we have 3 or 4 that are unlucky not to be first choice, so 15 players that are good enough at least at this level to be put into the side without worrying. We then have the rest of the backups of which many are capable of this level in their own right. We then have 5 or 6 youngsters that are getting very close to where they will be needing chances to see if they can make the grade. These guys are third choice obviously but should not be pushed down to 4th place with us buying even more backup. If we do that then it is pointless for us to say we are trying to use our academy for our own team. If we don't give them chances then we will just be moving them on a la Chelsea!!! Bart is fine, The whole of the 24 are fine, Nothing major needed IMO
As said previosuly, if we ever get to the Prem we will have a good 5/6 youngsters in 1st team action by then The likes of Ward-Prowse, Shaw, Stephens, Sinclair, Chambers, Reed to name a few on pro deals alread
I really do not remember many saying that Saints couldn't or wouldn't hold there own in the champonship. Although I will concede that a few thought we did not have a team to push for promotion without 3/4 players to boost the squad. Losing Chamberlaine also caused a few more to doubt the ability for promotion. While the team are playing well there is in my view still some tweaking to do. JMO
Hmm, yeah, I agree with that. I was watching that doyen of all pundits, Robbie Savage give his views on Savage Says, if only to get an outsiders point of view. He made a reasonable point that he wondered whether Saints could keep up the form, they've shown from the start, to achieve promotion. On the other hand, he thought West Ham have now hit their stride and are pretty much a shoe-in. All this is a change of mind from earlier in the season, when he thought West Ham and Leicester were going to be the main players for auto-promotion. Lightweight though he is, I think he makes a valid point. Can Saints keep up the superb form, and do we need some maintenance in January to keep our Goal Machine Team running sweetly..?
I always thought we would do well in the Championship, because a club on a winning streak will usually do better than the struggling sides in the league above, but I would never predict our storming start. I thought perhaps top 6 if all went well, but didn't like to say it too loud in case I was shouted down. Now, we would regard 3-6 as a disappointment. I'm with Cortese on this, only want the play-offs if we're guaranteed to win.
